behavour

Question
I have a 5 month old border collie male pup who has form an attachment to the rubbish bin. When the bin is put on the road side for collection, the dog will try to get out any way he can, to be with the bins. When the bins are inside the yard he spends a lot of his time laying next to them. Can you suggest any way to break the attachment. He has a lot of toys and a big yard to play in. Help.

Answer
Hi Viv;
I thought I had heard it all, but this one is a new one on me.
Something about those bins smell like mom and the brothers and sisters, or it is big like mom was when he was a baby.
I am really just thinking off the top of my head, because this is really a poser to me.
You really can't tell what is in their little heads.
That bin may very well be his sheep he is garding.LOl
It really sounds more to me like he is guarding them. Animals play pretend games too.
My daughter had a cat once, that would bring her a mouse every night, and sit beside her bed meowing till she woke her up, to get her mouse.
Sometimes the "mouse" was a writing pen, my pin cushion, or something like that. Her favorite "mouse", was a small pink elephant my oldest daughter had on her dersser. Catnip would steal Paula's elephant, and take it to Terri, for a "mouse".
She had a litter of kittens, and one day she stole that elephant and sat in the hallway, calling her kittens. They came running, and started looking around for the food, and all that was there was a little pink stuffed elephant.
That was Catnip's pretend game, and she played in long into her old age.
Maybe more playing games with him, and giving him more exercise would help, but it really sounds like he has some sort of pretend game he is playing. Those bins may be a flock of sheep, or cows. who knows.LOl
Sorry I couldn't help more, but I wouldn't worry about it.
Maybe if you got something else he could guard, like the storage boxes for lawn furniture pads etc.
Set something out and tell him to guard it.
Maybe you could transfer his attention to something else, that doesn't go out to the front to worry him.
You could look up Border Collie breeders on the web, and write to them and maybe some of them have had experience whith a situation like your's and could suggest some things to do.
I just can't see how he could think they are mom and littermates. It sounds more to me like he is guarding his flock.
Charlotte